What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Finally, I'm off my duff

I'm going to do it...

I am going to taint this blog with ugly "work in progress" photos again.

I have really tried to avoid this because those "before" pictures are just so darn nasty and just ruin this "happy place" of mine with its disgustingness.

But, I am pretty proud of myself so...it is worth it.

For the last few weeks I have been...um...well, overwhelmed to say the least. After the initial rush of cleaning and unpacking essentials, I was so exhausted, that I decided to "put off" doing the UNESSENTIAL things. Nothing wrong with that, per se, except I put it off indefinitely. What's worse, I have spent the last few weeks angry, disgruntled, and overwhelmly frustrated that the house (weeks later) STILL isn't orderly and FINISHED. Why would I expect it to be so, if I am not working toward that, you ask? Well. Because I am foolish.

I would look around at the boxes (that have been tucked and shoved where they will be less noticed) and see all the work still left to do, but it would get me so TIRED that I never would begin to tackle them. I'd look the other way. Busy myself with something, ANYTHING and then...go to bed mentally exhausted from living in a house that isn't how I want it to be.

I could see the hard work. I could feel the pain of exhaustion, the heaviness of book boxes. I could smell the sweat, the dust in my nostrils. And it just wasn't pleasant. But eventually...(yesterday) I pulled myself up by the bootstraps and slapped myself across the face and said "SELF. Stop being a lazy idiot and just get it all done ALREADY!"

And then I set to work.

Operation Closet (turns out we DO have one in the upstairs!) was a-go.

Here is what it looked like, though not as bad as what it originally was...you may not have survived a glimpse of it back then...



Matt hauled most of the heavy stuff to the barns and we filled it with those pesky boxes I didn't want to see any more.

So, first things first. I hauled out all the boxes (and they were heavy buggars!)

Then, I vacuumed the thick layer of dust and cobwebs.

After that, I washed the ceiling, walls, and shelves. Then, swept and mopped the floor.



This is the result of that work. I know, it would have been AWESOME to respackle and paint this BEFORE unloading our stuff into it, but there comes a point when some things just have to be put on hold. The walls are prime example of one of those times.

Then, the unpacking and reloading of it.

Turns out, the closet is bigger than I had anticipated.

On the right we have our huge selection of games (yes, we are THOSE kind of people...)
On the left and in the bins, we have some recent food stores (yes, we are squirrels!),
in the middle, a few afghans
and the top, bathroom essentials (yes, I am a CVS'er).

As you can see, there is lots more room for stockage. ;-)

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9 comments:

Tracy said...

We are those kind of people, too. Oh, how I wish we lived closer. Imagine the game nights full of laughter and good food!

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

I would love to have a closet like that to store stuff in. As it is, I have my "stash" of bulk purchases here and there. We have tons of games as well. While I'm not a real big game person, Munchkin and hubby love games. We do have a small game closet as it was needed. lol!

P.S. Don't feel bad about the boxes. As a person that moves regularly, it seems that I always have some boxes that don't get unpacked until right before the next move. **gasp** You're doing just fine. ;)

Nanci said...

YOU, my dear Rebecca, have been extremely busy and everything looks wonderful!!!

As you know, before your visit I tackled the "school room". I still marvel every time I glance at the bookshelf and game shelves and wonder how much longer they will remain presentable. LOL

Andie said...

WOW! You are busy! When we moved here I was 8 months preggo with Bethany. My mom was a saint and helped unpack a lot! However, 4 1/2 years later, there are still boxes in the basement that have not been unpacked. Hubby keeps saying that if we haven't needed them this long, we should just chuck them...but I can't do that! My last kitchen was alot bigger and I had room to put out my pretty dishes, but here I don't. Our old home had great storage in the basement, this one does not...so things just stay in boxes. Since it is in boxes, I don't think about using it even though I know if it were out I would use it!
Hubby wants to "finish" at least part of our basement, so hopefully he will put in more storage/shelving areas so that I can finally unpack those boxes! :o)
I LOVE your closet!! And what a cleaver use of that beautiful desk!

Grandma Bibby said...

That closet looks so big when it was empty compared when filled with barn stuff. I am so delighted that you did it before the baby comes. The third child makes one amazingly busy. Just ask Jean! It is great that you have so much more room to put stuff in there yet. Way to go!!

Bonnie said...

Inspiring! (says the girl sitting on HER duff (heehee, I thought I was the only one who used that expression!), ignoring the groceries that should have been put away an hour ago).
If I lived closer, I would trade you "nesting days". I'd come help you, then make you come help me ;0}
I tend to get OCD in organizing too, and I think thats why I give up so fast, once I get started. I'm afraid the organizing police will come haul me off because something could've been put somewhere else instead. Sigh.
Keep posting the house, finished or in progress, I like to see it!

Michelle said...

I am so glad you found a closet in that house! :D

It looks wonderful now. I know what you mean about organizing and getting things put away and that helping your mood. It is so true.

I just got some things hung on the wall today (yes, after living here for over 2 months!), and it really makes it into a home.

Anonymous said...

The desk and closet look wonderful - and it seems like it brought you a lot of relief to get them done ;) The closet looks HUGE in your pics - maybe in future you can have deeper shelves to help take advantage of the space?

Good luck!! Kathy

Abigail said...

Wonderful! So BIG!

Great job on beautifying it and on not popping Bunkin out in the middle of it all!